Tank spraying apparatus



Feb. 28, 1961 Filed Sept. 25, 1957 A. PHILLIPS TANK SPRAYING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sh; -1 5 U INVE N TOR [BY/WWW ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 28, 1961 A. E. PHILLIPS TANK SPRAYING APPARATUS VENZUR 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 23, 1957 ATTORNEYS. 7

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TANK SPRAYING APPARATUS Arthur E. Phillips, La Porte, Ind., assignor toThe Coleman Company, Inc, Wichita, Kans., a corporation of Kansas FiledSept. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 685,737

10 Claims. (Cl. 134-102) This invention is concerned with themanufacture of cement-lined tanks and relates specifically to anapparatus for spraying and washing the inner cement linings of suchtanks.

As is well known, siliceous cements provide effective lining materialsfor metal tanks because of their strength, durability, chemicalinactivity and relatively low cost. However, it has been found thatduring the use of such tanks for limited periods following installation,lime from the inner surface of the cement coating is released into aliquid, such as water, carried within the tank with the result thatwater drawn from the tank presents a cloudy appearance. invention is toprovide an apparatus for quickly and thoroughly washing the linings ofsuch tanks so that excess lime will not be deposited into the water orother liquid stored within the tanks after installation.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for removing excess lime fromthe tank lining after the cement lining has been applied but before ithas been cured. In this connection, it is a specific object to providean apparatus wherein such lime may be flushed from the tank withoutwashing away the aggregate component of the lining and without producingvariations in the thickness of that lining after it has been sprayed. Afurther object is to provide an apparatus capable of accommodating tanksof different size and equipped with means for automatically orientingthe spray nozzles with the spud openings of any given tank. Otherobjects will appear from the specification and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tank spraying apparatus embodying thepresent invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged broken side elevation of aspray device used in conjunction with the apparatus; Figure 3 is anenlarged broken sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure4 is a cross-sectional view of a tank and illustrating the direction offluid spray; Figure 5 is an enlarged end view of the apparatus shownpartly in section and taken along line 5-5 of Figure l; and Figure 6 isa still further enlarged view showing details of the carriageconstruction and taken alongline 6-6 of Figure 5.

- In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, theletter A generally designates a frame, B represents a movabletank-supporting carriage, and C designates the spray unit supported bythe frame. The broken lines in Figures 1, 3 and 5 represent a metal tank.D removably supported by carriage B. As shown in Figure 4, tank D hasan outer metal shell 10 and an inner cement lining 11. At thecommencement of the spraying operation with which the present inventionis concerned, the cement lining 11 has not fully dried or hardened. Thecement material ordinarily consists of a mixture of sand, Portlandcement and water, although it is to be understood that variations in thecomposition of the aggregate and hardening components may be made"without departing from the present invention. Since :spinningmethodsfor applying cement tank linings are LWfill-kIlOWIl in the art and sincethese methods are not One of the principal objects of the presentdirectly involved in the present invention, a full disclosure of thesemethods is believed unnecessary herein.

Frame A is provided with a plurality of upstanding legs 12 andreinforcing beams 13 which combine to support a pair of parallelinclined frame members 14. The inclined frame members are held inuniformly spaced relation by transverse frame members 15 and, asillustrated most clearly in Figures 1 and 5, these transverse membersare provided with upstanding drain trough supports 16 from which alongitudinally-extending inclined drain trough 17 is suspended. Each ofthe inclined frame members 14 has a cylindrical rail 18 secured to itsupper surface and these parallel rails together provide a track forsupporting and guiding the movement of tank carriage B.

The tank support or carriage B includes a platform 19 having a centrallongitudinal slot or opening 20 through which the drain 17 and drainsupporting structure projects. Beneath the carriage are four sets ofdepending journal memebers 21 through which shafts 22 extend forrotatably supporting grooved wheels 23. Above the platform are mountedtwo pairs of tank supporting members 24, the members of each pair beingdisposed on opposite sides of the frame to form a seat for removablysupporting a tank.

Preferably, each of the tank supporting members or units 24- is equippedwith a pair of hinged seating members 25 and 26 having bearings 27disposed at different elevations or radial distances from thelongitudinal axis of a tank for supporting tanks of different size atsubstantially the same elevation. If the tank is of relatively smalldiameter, then hinged member 25 is disposed in the operative positionillustrated in Figure 6 so that its bearing 27 will engage the peripheryof that tank. If the tank is of larger diameter, then member 25 ispivoted into the position indicated by broken lines in the drawing sothat the tank will seat upon the lower hinged seating member 26. Shouldadjustment to accommodate an even larger tank be required, member 26 maybe flipped to the side to expose bearing 28 directly therebelow.

At the upper end of the inclined frame is the spray tube sup-portingstructure 29 which includes a pair of upstanding side frame members 30joined by a diagonal bar 31 upon which is mounted a rotatable turret 32.A pair of spray guns of the type commonly referred to as Binks gunsextend through the apertured turret plate and are rotatably securedthereto by connecting plates 32a, 32b and set screws 33. The revolvableturret 32 may be locked in different selected positions by a lock pin 34which is insertable through openings 34a and 34b in the diagonal bar andturret, respectively. Each gun is provided with an elongated tubularextension 35 which has a length substantially equal to that of the tanksto be sprayed and which is inclined downwardly in parallel alignmentwith inclined frame members 14 and carriage platform 19. i

To maintain the spray tubes or extensions 35 in proper alignment Iprovide a guide assembly 38 which comprises an apertured upstandingplate 39 rigidly secured at its lower end to the front or upper portionof carriage platform 19, mounting blocks 40 and guide sleeves 41. Plate39 is provided with a pair of arcuate openings 42 through which thespray gun tubes extend, the length of the openings permittingunrestricted rotation of the turret and guns within the desired range ofadjustment. Each of the mounting blocks 40 has an opening 43 and ispreferably equipped with a pair of setting pins 44 selectivelyinsertable in plate openings 44a for locking the block and spray guntube in any of a plurality of positions determined by the particularturret setting. The guide sleeves 41 extend through both the plate 39and mounting blocks 40 and are provided with tapered or frusto conicalends 45 adapted to seat within the spud openings '46 at the upper end oftank D. An integrally-formed flange 47 is provided adjacent the taperedend of each guide sleeve and a pin 48 is threadedly secured to eachflange and projects rearwardly into an opening 49 in the mountingblocks. A compression spring t} extends about pin 48 and is disposedbetween flange 47 and block 4% to urge the tapered guide sleeverearwardly into sealing engagement with the spud opening of the tank. Abore 51' extends through each of the guide sleeves and has a diameterslightly greater than the outer diameter of tubular gun extension 35.Therefore, as the tank carriage B is moved upwardly along tracks 18, thenozzle 52 and tubular extension 35 of each spray gun will pass throughthe guide sleeves and into the tank supported by the carriage.

The carriage may be driven by any suitable power means such as areversible electric motor 53 mounted upon the frame by support standard54 and operatively connected to the carriage by a chain or cable 55. The,chain is entrained about guide pulley 56 and is connected 'to the frontend of the carriage at 57. Motor 53 is started by manually depressinghandle 58 adjacent electrical control unit 59, and this unit, inconjunction with suitable limit switches 59a and 5% or other electricalcontrol means automatically reverses the motor when the carriage hasreached the upper limit of its path of travel and, in addition,synchronizes the operation of solenoid valves 37 and 60 with theoperation of the motor. As the carriage moves upwardly from the positionillustrated in Figure 1, both of the solenoid valves 37 and 60 are heldopen and water and air flow through conduits 36 and 61 respectively tothe spray guns of the spray assembly C. However, when motor 53 isreversed and the tank-supporting carriage starts to descend along .theinclined frame, solenoid valve 37 automatically closes so that onlycompressed air is discharged from the spray nozzles. Finally, when thecarriage has again returned to its fully lowered position the controlunit interrupts motor operation and the air-controlling solenoid valve60 is automatically closed.

In the operation of the structure described, a cementlined tank D isplaced upon carriage B with its lower end resting against stop 62. Thetank is then rotated upon the carriage until the tapered ends of guidesleeves or spud positioners 41 seat in the spud openings at the upperend of the cylindrical tank. The operator then depresses the controllever 58 and the carriage and tank travel upwardly at a predeterminedspeed along the inclined track. At the start of the upward travel,solenoid valves 37 and 60 are automatically actuated and allow both airand water to pass through the tubes 35 of the spray guns to spray theentire length of the cement-lined cavity. As indicated in Figure 4, thespray nozzles play a 360 circular spray pattern on the cement lining towash away the line coating with the tank and, in addition, direct aforward spray against the tank bottom and flue. As shown in Figure 5,the dual mounting of the spray gun insures an even distribution ofatomized water and eliminates blind spots behind tank flue 63. At thecompletion of the upstroke, the direction of carriage travel isautomatically reversed and the supply of water to the spray guns isinterrupted. During the downward travel of the carriage and tank, thespray guns pass air only to clear vapor and liquid from the tank cavitythat has accumulated during the atomizing cycle. Throughout the upwardand downward travel of the tank, the lime material washed from thecement lining drains freely through the drain spud 64 of the tank andonto the drain trough 17 mounted upon the frame.

It has been found that when the slope of the carriage and tank issubstantially 13 during the atomizing operation, the excess lime coatingis thoroughly flushed from the tank without soaking the uncured liningand without materially afiecting the thickness, of that lining. However,it is to be understood that carriages and frames having different anglesof inclination may be provided without departing from the principle ofthis invention.

While in the foregoing I have disclosed an embodiment of the presentinvention in considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details maybe varied considerably without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for spraying the cavity of a cementlined tank toremove excess lime therefrom, said tank having a spud opening at itsupper end and a drain opening at its lower end, a frame having at leastone inclined spray tube equipped with a spray nozzle at the lower endthereof, a tank support mounted upon said frame for supporting a tank ininclined position and in axial alignment with said spray tube and withthe spud opening of said tank facing upwardly adjacent said nozzle,means for relatively moving said tank support and said spray tubetowards and then away from each other along the longitudinal axis ofsaid inclined tube topass said nozzle in opposite directions through thecavity of said tank, and means synchronized with said first mentionedmeans for directing the flow of fluid through said spray tube and nozzlewhile said tank support and spray tube are in a relative movementtowards and away from each other.

2. In an apparatus for spraying the cavity of a cement lined tank toremove excess lime therefrom, a frame having at least one inclined spraytube equipped with a spray nozzle at the lower end thereof, a tanksupport mounted upon said frame for supporting a tank in inclinedposition and in axial alignment with said spray tube and with the spudopening of said tank adjacent said nozzle, means for relatively movingsaid tank support and said spray tube along the longitudinal axis ofsaid tube to pass said nozzle in opposite directions through the cavityof said tank, and means synchronized with said firstmentioned means fordirecting the flow of fluid through said spray tube and nozzle whilesaid tank support and spray tube are in relative movement, saidfirst-mentioned means being operative to relatively move said tanksupport and spray tube in opposite directions towards and away from eachother, said second-mentioned means cooperating with said first-mentionedmeans for directing air to said spray nozzle when said support and tubemove relatively away from each other and for directing an air-watermixture to the nozzle when said support and said tube are movedrelatively towards each other. 3. In an apparatus for spraying theinterior of a cement-lined tank, a frame having an inclined track, saidframe being equipped with at least one inclined spray tube supported atits upper end and provided at its lower end with a spray nozzle, acarriage movably supported by said frame for movement in oppositedirections along said inclined track and adapted to carry a cementlinedtank having a spud opening at the upper end thereof, power means formoving said carriage along said track to pass said nozzle into and outof said tank through said spud opening, a fluid supply sourcecommunicating with said spray tube, and means for controlling the flowof fluid from said supply source to said spray tube and nozzle.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said carriage is equipped with aguide structure for slidably supporting said spray tube.

-5. The structure of claim 3 in which said spray tube is supportedadjacent its upper end by a turret mounted upon said frame, said turretbeing selectively rotatable for aligning said tube with the spudopenings of tanks of different size.

6. The structure of claim 4 in which said carriage is adapted to supporta tank for axial rotation, said guide structure being equipped with atapered guide sleeve adapted to seat in the spud opening of a tank whenthe tank is rotated to align the opening and sleeve.

7. The structure of claim 3 in which said carriage is equipped with aplurality of adjustable tank-supporting members for supportingcylindrical tanks of difierent diameter at substantially the sameelevation.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, a frame having aninclined track, at least one spray tube parallel with said track andsecured adjacent its upper end to the upper end portion of said frame,a wheeled tank-supporting carriage mounted upon said inclined track, andmeans responsive to the direction of movement of said carriage foralternately directing air and a water-air mixture to I said spray tubefor spraying the interior of a tank supported by said carriage.

9. The structure of claim 8 in which a pair of parallel inclined spraytubes having spray nozzles at the lower ends thereof are mounted uponsaid frame.

10. The structure of claim 8 in which said carriage is equipped withguide means cooperable with said spray tube for supporting the lower endportion thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,492,922 Knight May 6, 1924 1,724,639 Burch Aug. 13, 1929 1,846,564McEwan Feb. 23, 1932 2,273,603 Verden Feb. 17, 1942 2,290,286 LeckieJuly 21, 1942 2,355,184 Somes Aug. 8, 1944 2,789,927 Olson Apr. 23, 19572,789,928 Wallerius Apr. 23, 1957

